Tel Aviv University Represented at Singapore Young Scientists Summit

Four of the five TAU researchers selected to participate in the summit: From left, Kathy Ushakov, Yarden Mazor, Dr. Lihi Adler-Abramovich and Ron Simkovitch. Dr. Eliran Reuven not pictured. Photo: Michal Ben Ami

Five outstanding young researchers from Tel Aviv University were among 300 participants selected to attend the 3rd Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS)@one-north which took place in Singapore, sponsored by the Singapore National Research Foundation. The summit enabled participants to interact with some 20 globally-recognized scientific leaders, including Nobel Prize, Turing Prize, Millennium Technology Prize and Fields Medal recipients. The five-day program addressed key issues in science, research and technology innovation and featured lectures, panel discussions and group sessions, as well as visits to key Singaporean technology sites and research institutions.

TAU PhD student Kathy Ushakov of the Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, whose work in the genetics of hearing loss is supervised by Vice Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine Prof. Karen Avraham, said, “At the summit we were exposed to a wide variety of ideas and fields, where we met interesting people from all around the globe. Exceptional scientists inspired us by sharing their insights and telling us how they reached their own discoveries. They also reminded us that in our days, where science and technology are incredibly intertwined, patience, curiosity and determination are crucial.”

The TAU contingent also included Yarden Mazor, a PhD student at the School of Electrical Engineering, supervised by Prof. Ben Z. Steinberg; Ron Simkovitch, a PhD student at the Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Chemistry, supervised by Prof. Dan Huppert; Dr. Eliran Reuven, a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Cell Research and Immunology, supervised by Dr. Vered Padler-Karavani; and Dr. Lihi Adler-Abramovich, Head of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research Project at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, supervised by former TAU VP for R&D Ehud Gazit.

In his plenary address, Nobel laureate in Chemistry Prof. Michael Levitt (shown in the photograph) told the young generation of scientists: “Be passionate. Do something you really love doing. Be persistent and original. The key criterion for a scientist is to love science.”